liberi volui
by organic ambience
Summary: a short vignette between quistis and seifer. some odd musings here~


disclaimer: final fantasy, it's characters, nor it's story (sadly) do not belong to me. please don't sue me, i have starving kitties that would miss me were i to go to jail. ^^  
  
liberi volui  
  
a field of fragrant flowers, with blossoms flurrying past in a scarlet haze. as i stand here in it's center, i can only think of one thing. you.  
  
i'm waiting for you. just like we promised. however, i'm no heroine, and neither are you the hero. i suppose that's how we intended it to be, though.  
  
"you always liked it here best, didn't you?"  
  
i turn around to be met by your piercing green eyes, contemplating me with an equal amount of interest and curiosity.  
  
"yes. it always seemed so magical to me. remember how we used to play here when we were younger? i would pretend we were part of a fairytale..."  
  
i held out my hand and captured one of the tiny blossoms floating by and opened my hand to look at it. simple, ordinary...yet subtly elegant and fragile. perhaps reminding me of myself? before i could ponder the meaning of my own thoughts, the stray petal is caught by the wind and carried away into the distance, joining thousands of others.  
  
after our journey to defeat ultemecia and our return from time compression, seifer seemed to change into a younger version of himself. perhaps he no longer blamed himself for acting as a knight to a sorceress, or just chose to finally put his past behind him. in either case, i could tell he was no longer bitter. it was an air about him. he even smiled now, and laughed if i provoked him enough. granted, he was still horrendously arrogant and reckless to a fault. some things never change.  
  
"seifer...do you think it's true? that we were fated to play the roles we did?"  
  
i can see his jade eyes narrow and the old expression of irritation begin to form on his face. i start to feel as though i shouldn't have brought it up when he turns to look at the horizon and slowly begins to speak.  
  
"i used to believe we each had a destiny to follow. a role we couldn't alter, that was all part of some grand scheme."  
  
i see him shake his head, and clench and unclench his fists. i keep listening, and he continues on.  
  
"now, i'm not so sure anymore. after...what happened, i started doubting all of my previous thoughts on what my purpose really is. hell, do i even have a purpose anymore? i'm beginning to think my life's a joke, just something to be played with..."  
  
i frowned at what he said, knowing that he'd probably been covering this insecurity up since ultemecia's defeat. i stepped up behind him and placed a hand gently on his shoulder.  
  
"you're right, in a way. we were all lead to believe we had some unknown guided purpose, but it wasn't what we expected. even if your fate is different from what you thought it was going to be, that hardly makes you a joke."  
  
he gave a bark of laughter, but i could tell it was in disgust. he shook his head again.  
  
"and what, that makes things better? is that supposed to comfort me? everyone is a hero, except for me. even though she's been defeated, i still remember what i did. the wrong choices i made, the people i betrayed. and i can't ever change that."  
  
"it's in the past, seifer. you're not that person anymore, we know. we all...i understand. and forgive you."  
  
he lets out a short sigh, and his gray trench coat rustles in the breeze around him. I regard him with my own sapphire blue eyes, unconsciously urging him to go on.  
  
"don't you ever think that we were pawns, quistis? just tools to be played with?"  
  
i smile softly at his questions, because they're the same ones on my mind. ironically, most of the things we have in common are the things we don't communicate verbally.  
  
"sometimes, i used to think of it that way. in a negative way. that we had to follow orders to win. but looking back on it, i see why we were fighting. we weren't being controlled to fight...we were fighting to save people."  
  
he turns around again and steps closer to me, and i can smell the sweet fragrance in the air mix with his clean scent. the breeze picks up again and my dark-gold hair is pulled into my face. before i can speak, he gently brushes the lock of hair away, and trails his knuckle along my cheekbone. he looks up and gazes at my questioning eyes.  
  
"and what about you quistis? do you believe in destiny?"  
  
unlike his usual jeering and impudent attitude, he remains quiet and peaceful as he stares at me waiting for a reply. i nervously look away and at the faraway clouds that begin to part and reveal a blue sky in the distance.  
  
"i think we can control our own destinies, if we make the choice to change them. it's our wills that shape our lives."  
  
i look up to see him regarding me with a warm gaze, but there is a new look in his eyes. something intense, that i've only seen a hint of before. no one could have convinced me in the past how close we would have gotten, but i can't imagine anything but this now. slowly he leans in and lifts my chin, kissing me gently as the flowers swirls amongst us. no, we're not heroes. but it doesn't matter.  
  
because who can complain when your fate has turned out to be that of a fairytale.  
  
..........  
  
well, wasn't that a thought-provoking little romp. or maybe just confusing to most. ^^ in any case, it got some ideas out of my head that surfaced when I finished the game.  
  
the title means "willful children"- i.e. those who have a choice to decide their own destiny. apparently not all of my two years of latin has buried itself in the resources of my mind, surprisingly enough. and as such, finito~ ;P 


End file.
